[private] take a look in the mirror

[Tarian]

She makes him laugh again, a rare feat for any other horse, and he feels lighter each time that he does. "Milady," he teases her back (though he prefers to call her Wildling) and Tarian echoes that silver Court tone he once took with her, though his voice comes much deeper now. "You wound me." And then that fervent touch softens, gentles as the tone of Altissima's voice does.

His mouth lingers lightly over neck, following the curve that it can reach. The grip with his wing never tightens but there is a ferocity that he holds her with at that moment. He doesn't say the words back but they are there in the way that he touches her, a physical affirmation that he was glad for it too.

And he is glad for so many more things, too.
So many that he nearly curses when he feels the pale woman beside him stiffen.

But if he were to do this (because Tarian knows that he would call her his, that he would have her call him hers), there would be no shadows or secrets. He cares for Altissima too much to allow her to become trapped in a fate that he had long ago accepted. If they were to do this, he wants her to make the choice knowing who he is and that someday, he might have to pay a price for it. He nearly kisses her again, wishing to press his dark lips against the brilliance of her skin again and chase both their worries away. "Do you remember when you told me of your parents?" They had left her in Pangea and Altissima had never given them the chance to come back for her, making the choice to go looking for adventures and thrills instead.

Tarian speaks softly and tells her the beginning of a story that he supposes is like many others. That there had once been a boy that revered his father and adored his mother. He tells her about his childhood in Paraiso, his voice warming with the memories of days within the ancient valley that his family had called home for generations. And then he tells speaks of a war that had happened before his birth, that had cost him half of his family.

Then the story grows darker and his voice deepens, a tone so black that it might have been a similar shade to the Eclipse, as he continues to explain that after the war, a series of murders took place out of revenge.

"My parents," he finally reveals and though he has long made peace with their deaths, he still can't ignore the way that their killers could still be out there. "were slain as they tried to get us to safety." It's then that Tarian realizes that the wing that was still draped over her slime frame had subconsciously tightened, as if he was already trying to shield her from those evils. The gray stallion closes his blue eyes and releases it slightly, finally lifting his head so that when he looks at her, Tarian can see her face.

If she has any doubts, Tarian wants to see them coming.

"There was a price on my head before I was even born, Altissima." He warns her, "and if they ever came here-," Tarian continues speaking of his parent's killers; the heart in his chest constricts and while the silver stallion had always been ready to sacrifice his life in the name of duty or kingdom, the thought of anyone harming the light-wielder beside him is not something he is willing to accept. His jaw clenches and the only sign of tension leaving his body is when he reaches towards Altssima's, hoping to smooth away hers. Quietly he says, "If something ever happened to you, I -," Tarian admits - partially frustrated with the way that he can't seem to find the right things to say and then finally murmurs, "I have never been afraid of anything before, Wildling."

And then, "Nobody has ever made me feel so damn much."